Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Low-dose gabapentin in treatment of high-altitude headache.
Headache is the most prevalent symptom of acute mountain sickness. We conducted a pilot clinical trial at an altitude of 3500 m to evaluate the efficacy of gabapentin in treatment of high-altitude headache (HAH). Twenty-four adult HAH patients (10 female, 14 male; age 18-50 years) were randomly assigned to receive either 300 mg of gabapentin capsule or identical placebo. ⋯ Four patients in the gabapentin group asked for additional analgesics, whereas nine placebo recipients did not find primary medication satisfactory after the first hour of treatment (P = 0.04). The mean HAH-free period was 17.10 h in the gabapentin group, which was significantly higher than in the placebo group with a mean of 10.08 h (P = 0.02). This preliminary observation indicates that gabapentin is effective in treatment and alleviation of HAH.